Green attorney David Mucklow says he doesn't quite know what to expect when he gives a presentation tonight on how Fair Finance Co. investors may want to force the company into bankruptcy.
The free informational program is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Green High School auditorium, which seats about 800 people. The school address is 1474 Boettler Road, Green.
Mucklow noted that Tuesday night's public meeting in Wooster, coordinated by U.S. Rep. John Boccieri, D-Alliance, attracted more than 1,000 people who listened to and asked questions of state and federal officials about ongoing investigations into the Akron-based accounts receivables and consumer-loan company.
''I'll take as much time as needed,'' to address concerns, Mucklow said Wednesday. He said he'll hold back-to-back meetings in the auditorium if the crowd size warrants.
Fair Finance has been closed since the FBI raided its East Market Street headquarters and a related company in Indiana on Nov. 24. Court records show federal investigators suspect a Ponzi scheme.
In a related matter, the federal government filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Akron seeking to deny the Akron Beacon Journal and three other newspapers the ability to see search warrants and related documents used to justify the FBI raids.
The government's response acknowledges that search warrants were filed. It said the warrants contain ''sensitive details'' and that public ''disclosure of this sensitive information contained in the search warrant affidavit would seriously jeopardize and impede this on-going criminal investigation.''
The Beacon Journal, the Wall Street Journal, Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis Business Journal joined in a bid to unseal the search warrants. The newspapers filed an objection to the federal government's motion that the search warrants remain sealed.
Mucklow said his presentation will look at the implications of an involuntary bankruptcy of Fair Finance. His legal practice specializes in bankruptcies and related issues. Mucklow said his first Fair Finance-related client was a relative who bought certificates from the business.
Fair Finance and its co-owners and executives face several lawsuits from people who bought investment certificates from the company and have had no access to those certificates or received payments since the FBI raids in late November. One of the lawsuits seeks class-action status. Ohio investors might have paid nearly $200 million for the certificates, which promised a high rate of return and were not government insured.
''People want to know what other options are,'' Mucklow said.
Involuntary bankruptcy would give buyers of the investment certificates control over Fair Finance assets, including freezing assets, providing federal jurisdiction over the process, helping recapture assets and more, Mucklow said. The owners and executives of Fair Finance would have to cooperate with the bankruptcy judge or risk going to jail for contempt, he said.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
